Federico di Sanseverino

Federico di Sanseverino (1475-1516) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church during the Renaissance era.

Biography
Federico di Sanseverino was born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples in 1475, the son of the condottiero Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona. He served as a cleric in Milan before becoming a protonotary apostolic, and he became the apostolic administrator of the see of Maillezais, occupying that post until 1508; from 1505 to 1511, he served as administrator of the see of Novara. In 1489, Pope Innocent VIII made him a Cardinal-Deacon, and his appointment was done in pectore, meaning that his creation was not published during the Pope's lifetime; his youth was the cause of this censorship. In 1494, Pope Alexander VI sent him as Papal legate to King Charles VIII of France in Siena, and he quickly returned to Rome, where his loyalty was suspected by the Pope. On 31 December 1494, Sanseverino accompanied the King of France during his entry into Rome, and he would continue to be made apostolic administrator of several more sees, as well as electing two Popes in 1503. In 1510, after Pope Julius II threatened to imprison him in the Castel Sant'Angelo, he joined the Pope's enemies, and he was present at the French victory at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512. In 1513, Pope Leo X had him arrested, and he had him fast for a month after he repented, upon which he was released. In 1515, he was sent as Papal legate to King Francis I of France, and he died in Rome in 1516. He was buried in Santa Maria in Aracoeli.